Local law enforcement keeps tabs on Santa

Cascade County Sheriff Bob Edwards shares submissions for Santa he received from a local child, including a gift list and a drawing to confirm Santa’s identity.(Photo11: TRIBUNE PHOTO/ANDREA FISHER)Buy Photo

Will Ferrell’s line as Buddy the Elf in the Christmastime favorite “Elf,” is a sentiment shared by Cascade County Sheriff Bob Edwards.

“We stay in contact via social media and the standard, old-fashioned, telephone call, which he prefers because he’s so busy,” Edwards said of the North Pole’s most famous resident.

The sheriff says he’s shared the secret of his direct contact with Santa Claus for years to local children. He inspired one little girl to trust her Christmas list to Edwards and submit her artist’s rendering of jolly old St. Nick for positive identification.

Edwards notes he submitted the list (which includes “a stuffed animal” as item No. 1 and “another stuffed animal” as item No. 4) to Santa along with other good reports. But, the sheriff’s dealings with Santa extend beyond behavior reports.

“Santa likes to stay in contact with law enforcement.”

The man with bag provides progress reports to Edwards and other sheriffs and police chiefs on Christmas Eve. Edwards says there are two reasons for that: so officers can watch Santa’s back, and so dispatchers know how to respond to the callers reporting an intruder on the roof.

The Great Falls Police Department will be tracking Santa’s progress on Christmas Eve, too. Beginning at 6 p.m. the GFPD will post updates via the department’s Twitter account, @GFPD_MT, during its “Track and Tweet” event.

“Santa’s lead elf, Gustoff, called and asked us to remind the citizens of Great Falls that Santa will be waiting until all of the town’s good boys and girls are asleep before he makes his deliveries,” the GFPD wrote on their Facebook page promoting the event. “We want to help the parents in our community so we will be tracking Santa and tweeting updates as he travels the globe.”

“Generally, most law enforcement officers make it on Santa’s ‘nice list,’” Edwards added. “Even me.”